However, it’s not as it sounds. The 7ft beast is actually the centre-piece of the Hodare fertility festival in Nagaoka, Japan.

And crowds of people gather there every year to get their share of the fertility, good luck, and marital success it is alleged to provide.

The festival, which takes place on the second Sunday of March every year, basically consists of women – who have married in the last 12 months – wearing their bridal gowns and straddling the wooden phallus.

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